An award-winning arts and culture blog.

Archive for the tag “Richard Dean Anderson”

MacGyver ran for seven seasons and spawned two television films. While Richard Dean Anderson embodied the lead role perfectly, perhaps MacGyver and his Swiss Army knife get too much credit for the show’s success. After all, a hero is only as good as his villain. And in MacGyver’s case, his villain was the maniacal Murdoc.

Expertly acted by Michael Des Barres, Murdoc appeared in nine episodes of MacGyver throughout the series run and was widely considered MacGyver’s arch nemesis. According to the show’s story arch, Murdoc was a master assassin employed by the Homicide International Trust. He always succeeded at taking out his targets, expect MacGyver, which became his obsession.

I always got excited when Murdoc made an appearance because he was a fantastic character. His devilish charm, clever disguises and over-the-top weaponry made him a treat to watch. Most memorable of all was when he yelled “MacGyver!” each time his plans were foiled. Speaking of which, check out the video below compiling some of these classics screams; they’re epic.

My favorite episode featuring Murdoc was episode eight of season three, “The Widowmaker.” You can currently stream it on Netflix, so if you haven’t seen it yet, you should check it out. It features mountain climbing, death, retribution and, of course, Murdoc. Need I say more? Below is a fan-made trailer for the episode to give you a taste.